NOVEL WEB Chapter 31: Scapecow
The four sat around the kitchen table. The air was as dense and thick as the fresh pottage soup before them. Max and Cy exchanged glances with each other as they waited for Bessie and farmer Brill to stop tearing up their slices of homemade bread to dunk in their soup. Laid out on the table was a feast compared to anything they were given to eat before: soup, bread, thin slices of meat, some cheeses from Bernedette’s farm, roasted vegetables, and untouched seasonal fruit in the middle of the table. There was even a freshly baked honey cake cooling on the windowsill. It was eerie, almost like the last supper.
Taking shelter in the barn, Max and Cy had watched Liv and Bessie march in furious silence towards the village. They hadn’t said anything before they left, and Bessie hadn’t said anything after coming back either. She just started cooking and baking like a mad woman. Max poked his head into the kitchen occasionally but couldn’t find a good opportunity to ask her what happened.
Cy was still exhausted but didn’t look as dead as he did when he returned from Bernedette’s farm. After cleaning up and resting for a couple of hours, he only woke up when Bessie hounded him to the kitchen table. For once, she wasn’t tolerating anyone skipping a meal.
Farmer Brill seemed oblivious to the mood as he was slurping down spoon after spoon of the soup while cramming chunks of the bread in his face. He stopped only for a second to spit out. “Did ya tell Max that they’re planning to transfer him over to the village shop?” Max started choking on the miniscule amount of soup he ate. “And if he refuses then he’s going to be classed as a troublemaker and executed.”
Bessie slammed her fist down to show her irritation, causing the lump of carrot to shoot out of Max’s throat. Eventually, she gave an exhausted sigh before looking at Max. “The mayor has proposed that you work for Liv for a few months as a settlement. It was the only suggested form of compensation Adelaide agreed to. It’s either you accept the offer, or you’ll be executed for not complying and ‘propagating trouble’ within the village.”
“… The mayor suggested this?” Even though he knew Max was trying to avoid stories and Adelaide was key to a prompt? Traitor. The prompts began flashing in his vision again. Since he was expecting it this time, it was considerably less overwhelming as he focused on each starting method. Staying in the village, leaving for the capital, and leaving his job all began a story.
“And you start first thing tomorrow.” So, he had until tomorrow to figure out a way to worm his way out of being boxed in by the system.
“Why is he being punished when he didn’t do anything?” Cy asked, while patting Max’s back. Max presumed that he was trying to comfort him and keep him relaxed, but he just made it more difficult to concentrate on a solution. “If anything, you should…” Cy was wise enough to not finish the obvious thought. “Why is Max being made into a scapegoat?”
“The mayor thought it was only fair for the labour being sponsored by the village to be redistributed as an atonement for my crime. But I don’t trust that bitch Adelaide to be satisfied with just this.” Farmer Brill raised a cup of milk in agreement before downing it. “And the spineless twerp of a mayor will do whatever they ask to keep the donations coming in from them,” Bessie grumbled.
Max would be in trouble if he resisted, since the mayor was directly responsible for this arrangement and could order his execution. He was also in trouble if he complied, because it’ll be difficult to avoid Adelaide and her sudden, unnatural desperation. Regardless if he honoured the decision, it would be remaining in the village which would then start a story. Not to mention, there was an interfering navy-blue fate, who was untouchable with the current prompts in place. On the other hand, he couldn’t leave his job… Another damned if you do and damned if you don’t situation for him.
Bessie let out another deep sigh.
“You’re fired.”
“What?” Max couldn’t believe his ears. He felt offended.
“Pack your shit and get out, the pair of you.” Bessie stood up and took the bowls from under Cy and Max’s noses. Cy looked in disbelief as he clutched his empty spoon. He never got a chance to eat.
Without another word, Max stood up and stormed to the small closet with all of his belongings in this world. There wasn’t much; a pitiful amount of clothes, a couple of coins that were meant to be his wages, two magic bones, and a prized bar of soap that he bought with his first wage. It was pathetic. He felt pathetic. As he was packing up, he heard Cy retreat to his couch. He had a lot more shit lying around, from mud masks to stacks of convincing ‘vet books.’
His rage subsided the second he heard a faint sniffle from the kitchen. He had never seen farmer Brill cry, and Cy was sobbing in the other room… The only time Max had seen Bessie act so upset was when her berry girls were taken from her. He counted the minutes while he listened to the suppressed tears. One, two, three, four, five… six. The sounds stopped and were replaced with clatter. He felt slightly proud. Bessie cried more for him than she did for the cows.
As he calmed down, Max was able to reevaluate his situation. Suddenly, all of the prompts had disappeared apart from two.
Story Name:
A Fresh Start
Genre:
Bildungsroman
Description:
Leaving a sheltered village, the MC finds themselves while living in the bustling capital.
Goal:
Make a place to call home.
Difficulty:
★★★☆☆
How to Start:
Go to the capital!
Story Name:
???
Genre:
???
Description:
After an entire village turns againSt a hidden magician, the World falls into chAos as a Power struggle takes root emnAh TstiSgl eyb esRtea…
Goal:
???
Difficulty:
★★★★★
How to Start:
Cy dies.
Unknowingly, Bessie had gotten him out of the traps made by the system. He had been fired, so he technically didn’t ‘leave his job.’ Furthermore, he had been evicted, so he was no longer ‘staying at the village,’ and he wasn’t going to encounter Adelaide again. Already packed, Max waited as he tried to plan for his next steps. He needed money, to keep Cy alive while his prompt was still active, and to avoid the capital; but there was one more thing he wanted to do before leaving the village.
As he waited, Max finally paid more attention to the prompts. Did the system have a stroke? He had never seen parts of the prompt appear scrambled. At first, he assumed it was gibberish before noticing the capital letters spelled something: ‘SWAP’ and ‘ATSR.’ It didn’t take him long to swap the letters around to spell the word ‘STAR.’ Did it mean ‘STAR’ or ‘SWAP STAR?’ Whatever it was, he was almost certain the rest of the scrambled letters had another meaning.
“Are you ready to go?” Cy asked, causing Max to jump out of his skin. Cy’s eyes were becoming puffy and red as he struggled to contain his sniffles. The mysterious prompt could wait for now.
“Why are you crying? You didn’t lose your job or your home.”
“I know, but…”
“Come on. Time to go.”
Max headed straight for the front door, but stopped when he heard Bessie clearing her throat. She motioned for farmer Brill to hand them two stuffed bags, while she handed a small pouch of coins directly to Max. “The money I garnished from your wages.” It was obvious to everyone that the amount in the pouch was far greater than his annual salary, but no one said anything. He didn’t know whether to laugh or cry, but he gratefully took the money. From the corner of his eye, he saw Cy unzip his bag to reveal a mixture of clothes and food, including the fresh honey cake. “It’s not much, but it’ll do you for a while.” Bessie had to clear her throat a few more times as she tried to hold back her tears.
Farmer Brill went ahead and opened the door for them. “Right, off you go.”
Cy went ahead, but Max hesitated for a second. The distant moos coming from the fields around him caused a pang in his heart. It took him a couple of seconds to retrieve something from his bag. “That’s one of them magician bones, ain’t it?” Farmer Brill looked at the carved, white stick in his palm.
Max offered it to a disgusted Bessie. “It’s got a healing spell on it. I tried it already with Straw, and she made a full recovery after eating it.” Cy’s ears pricked up and the sobbing suddenly stopped as he stared in disbelief at Max. His face made it clear to Bessie and farmer Brill that there was some truth to his words. “This is the last one I have… maybe you can save another one of your berry girls.”
Bessie grabbed a paint covered cloth with a paintbrush stuck to it. In an awkward motion, she grabbed the bone with the cloth before scrunching it up so she couldn’t see it. “Thanks?” She took another deep breath before the old Bessie returned. “Now, it’s time for you to go so get out.”